Before the summer break, my friend Josh, Cowboy Joe or lately Snapchat Joe, sent an email to everyone in class if they were interested to volunteer for Special Olympics that would be held sometimes in May. Without hesitation I responded 'Yes'. I so much wanted to part of it. We were done with the Spring semester, then came summer... summer project got kick started! I get email from organizers that they need volunteer for the Olympics at 1:00 pm on 15th!
But then my summer project raised it's ugly head again! On 15th I had a conference call meeting with the five oil companies that we were benchmarking on at 3:00 pm. See, I got another reason to hate my summer project, besides not letting me go to Denver and spend some time with my family. I had regrets for not being able to be part of that 'special' event.
Fast forward five months. Today. As we decided earlier, Greg and Josh wanted to play table-tennis with me for a while. Actually, Josh wanted a 'revenge' for beating him during NOLS! So, after we were done with our presentation of our summer projects to the College of Business members, around five-ish we head to the Coffee Hour at the Union, dressed up in suits. Turns out the board that was 'free' is occupied, so we opt to rent another board for an hour for five-bucks. Before that I used to play for free, they just worked with the International Student Association about the charges just this week or so. We were there to have fun, so there we go. Josh leaves early without playing due to some work... so here I was showing my ping-pong skill to Greg and Allegra! With the ceiling too low, I couldn;t use my 'loop' as much as I would have wished though.
I beat Greag easily, then Allegra...and while I am having a rematch with Greg, a boy on wheel chair comes and watches us play. Thought if he was interested, we ask him to join us... so the boy, Sam, and I play on one side and Greg and Allegra on the other as doubles partner. We make sure that he has lots of fun, and encourage him. After about twenty-minutes or so, Greg is hungry so wants to have a rematch with me before he leaves. So, we play one-on-one, and who wins? No points for guessing! I. So, as the fare for renting the board and bat was to be paid at the end, I go to the guy and hand over the cash to him. He is like, "That was a great sporting spirit, you need not pay!"... I was like, "What? Ok, have a nice day."
Never during that evening I/we ever thought about it, I was like, we came here to have fun, we loved playing with Sam, giving him some moments of joy... and that came back to us, sort of! So, even though I was unable to be part of the Special Olympics and had regrets, now after this evening I finally got redemption!
Post script: Thank you, Greg and Allegra, without you it was not possible. You people showed a great spirit and helped me redeem!
I beat Greag easily, then Allegra...and while I am having a rematch with Greg, a boy on wheel chair comes and watches us play. Thought if he was interested, we ask him to join us... so the boy, Sam, and I play on one side and Greg and Allegra on the other as doubles partner. We make sure that he has lots of fun, and encourage him. After about twenty-minutes or so, Greg is hungry so wants to have a rematch with me before he leaves. So, we play one-on-one, and who wins? No points for guessing! I. So, as the fare for renting the board and bat was to be paid at the end, I go to the guy and hand over the cash to him. He is like, "That was a great sporting spirit, you need not pay!"... I was like, "What? Ok, have a nice day."
Never during that evening I/we ever thought about it, I was like, we came here to have fun, we loved playing with Sam, giving him some moments of joy... and that came back to us, sort of! So, even though I was unable to be part of the Special Olympics and had regrets, now after this evening I finally got redemption!
Post script: Thank you, Greg and Allegra, without you it was not possible. You people showed a great spirit and helped me redeem!
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